Emergency Arbitrator rejects new claims of ENA shareholders
YEREVAN, August 4. /ARKA/. The Armenian government reports that on July 29, 2025, Liormand Holdings Limited, Samvel Karapetyan, Eteri Karapetyan, Sargis Karapetyan and Karen Karapetyan (“Claimants”) again applied to the Emergency Arbitrator appointed under the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, requesting to supplement the Emergency Arbitrator’s arbitral award of July 22, 2025 in case EA 2025/121 with the following content:
1. Declare that the Republic of Armenia is legally obliged to comply with the said arbitral award,
2. Oblige Armenia to restore the status quo as of the date of Claimants’ first application (July 16, 2025), and
3. Oblige Armenia to inform the Emergency Arbitrator and the Claimants of all steps taken to comply with the arbitral award (including for restoring the status quo), as well as to confirm the implementation of the interim measures within the time limit(s) specified by the Emergency Arbitrator.
By its decision of August 3, 2025, the arbitrator dismissed the Claimants’ claim in its entirety on the grounds that new claims were submitted compared to the original claim and that its jurisdiction and powers do not extend to the requested security measures.
It should be recalled that by its arbitration award of July 22, 2025, the Extraordinary Arbitrator dismissed the Claimants’ claims to release Samvel Karapetyan from pre-trial detention or replace the detention with another preventive measure, as well as to refrain from initiating legal proceedings against the management or employees of the organization belonging to the “Tashir” group.
The owner of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), Russia-based billionaire Samvel Karapetyan was arrested in June on accusations of calling for a power seizure after he publicly supported the Armenian Apostolic Church in its conflict with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration. Following the arrest, Pashinyan declared it was time to nationalize Karapetyan’s company, Electric Netwroks of Armenia, and the Armenian parliament passed laws allowing the state to seize it.
In response, the Karapetyan family filed a lawsuit at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), citing a 1995 bilateral investment treaty between Armenia and Cyprus.
The SCC ruled that Armenia must halt any efforts to enforce the new legislation or confiscate the company, warning that such actions would hinder the family’s ability to recover damages if they lose control.
The official statement of the Government regarding the interim measure granted by the Extraordinary Arbitrator regarding the ENA is available at the following link.-0-
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